National report.

Irvine Co. Returns

IRVINE, Calif. — The Irvine Co. is back in the commercial development business.

The large landowner said that it plans to break ground in December on a 12-building, 525,000-square-foot office and industrial complex in the Irvine Spectrum-the company's 3,600-acre business park.

The development is the first such project the company has built in four years. Richard Sim, president of the Irvine Co.'s Investment Properties Group, said high occupancies and brisk leasing in the Spectrum prompted the project.

The company will begin the complex's first phase-two buildings totaling 100,000 square feet-in December.

Beech Street Corp., an Irvine managed-care company, signed a five-year lease valued at $3.7 million for a 62,000-square- foot building, and has the option for the other building.